How businesses can counter the effects of the Great Resignation UK

Is the great resignation real? Are people actually leaving work in droves? It’s likely that we’ve got a little carried away with the concept of the great resignation in the UK, as the numbers are relatively low compared to the US. Yet, there are still patterns worth scrutinising that reveal the differences between the great resignation UK and the great resignation US.

The pandemic may have accelerated an exodus of talented employees, but there’s evidence to show it was already a by-product of the slow crawl out of the 2008 global financial crisis (at least in the US). So, there are various reasons you could attach to why people felt compelled to quit and move on. As usual, it’s a complicated scenario.

In this article, let’s look at some of those reasons, what the great resignation looks like on both sides of the pond, and what employers could be doing to redress the balance.

The factors that led to re-evaluating our working lives

Perhaps re-evaluation is a better word than resignation to explain what’s happening. In the US, older employees with more experience are causing headaches for hiring managers, with statistics showing high rates of resignation in the 45–50 age group. It’s never a good thing to watch valuable knowledge workers use the exit door. Yet, the statistics are high enough to cause concern: In November 2021, 4.53 million Americans quit their jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jay Zagorsky of Boston University told the BBC: ‘Because many workers are in high-wage industries and are working incredibly long hours, there is a significant number of people who are just quitting.’

It’s a similar story in the UK, but with a slightly different undercurrent of dissatisfaction. Employees have scrutinised workplace culture, their employers’ flexibility around hybrid and remote working, and in-house skills development. Much of this came about as a direct result of the pandemic, where employers were put under the microscope as the business/working landscape shifted from week to week.

Many factors may contribute to this wave of discontent, such as burnout, more options available for working remotely, a change in attitude towards our career prospects, and our generational world view of what ‘career’ means. The data that researchers sift through must be immense, and must change frequently. It’s difficult to pin down one theory over another, but the effects of the great resignation UK are clearer to understand, as are the solutions to limit them.

Stem the tide to help your business grow

Anecdotally, realising we can work from anywhere has been a revelation for many employers, as it has for employees. Software technology lets us easily connect, communicate and collaborate. We’re not limited to in-person meetings now that we’re furnished with state-of-the-art tools to function productively wherever there’s reliable broadband.

Yet, not everything is rosy. An alternative view reveals a picture of discontent over office standards, poor technology implementation, poor leadership and culture. Productivity, for instance, was affected by poor technology standards before the pandemic. The pandemic merely accelerated what was hiding in plain sight: People no longer want to be defined by where they work, and are more aware of their worth and purpose.

When employees realised they could work from anywhere, they have possibly become fearless about considering the leap. Fuelled by a feeling that their employers consider them dispensable, workers have opted to work elsewhere, or at least change the circumstances of their employment. This is helped by the current status of job vacancies in the UK, as well as a study of 6,000 adults, 69% of whom said they ‘feel confident to move to a new job in the next couple of months’.

The effects of this are serious. Businesses are already struggling with rising costs, inflation, National Insurance updates, and empty offices with expensive overheads. Having experienced knowledge workers leave your company is costly, and every HR manager will tell you how much that actually is down to the nearest pound. Administration, recruitment and selection, temporary cover, and training all cost money and time. Figures vary, but the average is often cited as being a third of a worker’s annual salary (and this may be conservative).

Losing talent is also costly in that it’s hard to replace key people. A PwC Global CEO Survey (2020) reveals that 74% of CEOs are concerned about not having the available talent to grow as a business. Replacing senior people is obviously harder to do, so it’s imperative companies take stock of their circumstances and provide solutions to counter the great resignation.

Be the company people want to work for

Despite the doom and gloom, there are ways businesses can alter their course headings. Here are three strategies for managing the effects of the great resignation UK:

1. Be an attractive place to work. This isn’t just about bean bags and free lunch. It’s about creating a vibe that motivates, encourages productivity, pays well and cares for people’s wellbeing. It needs to be transferable between the office and wherever people choose to work. Be mindful of the details that can grow into solid strategies for future growth, such as making it easy for employees to shift roles internally. And if people are good at their job, tell them. Recognise when a task is done well and take the opportunity to emphasise people’s value to the business.

2. Help employees with the things that matter to them. This may be advice about personal finances, explaining workplace pensions, budgeting and expenses. Provide expert financial advice regularly so employees know you care about their personal lives as well as their careers. A great training programme goes a long way towards career development, but personal development is equally crucial, and a way to demonstrate care. People are struggling with the high costs of living, so be mindful of this and create an open environment where they can approach your leadership team for advice and counsel.

3. Reassess how you operate as a business. Fixating on discovering the secret sauce of a work-life balance may be a distraction. Instead, look for better ways of working so that employees can feel empowered to be their best selves at work and home. Let them find the balance simply by virtue of having been given all the tools they need. No obstacles. No impediments.

The great resignation is a significant issue to consider. Employees may well have become more aware of their value, and are less worried about changing their circumstances. They also have more bargaining power.

Organisations can reduce the costs associated with replacing talented knowledge workers by becoming more people-focused and problem-focused.

Things will settle, but this is a new norm. When leadership teams see the many benefits of being more flexible and mindful of the various circumstances we find ourselves in, they can counter the effects of the great resignation and begin to grow again.